Monday, February 24, 2014

FY
2013 ICE Immigration Removals

Information collected from ICE.gov

Overview

In addition to its criminal investigative responsibilities, U.S. Immigration
and Customs Enforcement (ICE) shares responsibility for enforcing the nation's
civil immigration laws with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and U.S.
Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). ICE's role in the immigration
enforcement system is focused on two primary missions: (1) the identification
and apprehension of criminal aliens and other removable individuals located in
the United States; and (2)
the detention and removal of those individuals apprehended in the interior of
the U.S.,
as well as those apprehended by CBP officers and agents patrolling our nation's
borders.
In executing these responsibilities, ICE has prioritized its limited
resources on the identification and removal of criminal aliens and those
apprehended at the border while attempting to unlawfully enter the United States.
This report provides an overview of ICE Fiscal Year (FY) 2013 civil immigration
enforcement and removal operations:
In FY 2013:

ICE conducted a total of
368,644 removals.

ICE conducted 133,551
removals of individuals apprehended in the interior of the U.S.

82 percent of all
interior removals had been previously convicted of a crime.

ICE conducted 235,093
removals of individuals apprehended along our borders while attempting to
unlawfully enter the U.S.

59 percent of all ICE
removals, a total of 216,810, had been previously convicted of a crime.

ICE apprehended and
removed 110,115 criminals removed from the interior of the U.S.

ICE removed 106,695
criminals apprehended at the border while attempting to unlawfully enter
the U.S.

98 percent of all ICE FY 2013
removals, a total of 360,313, met one or more of ICE's stated civil
immigration enforcement priorities.

Of the 151,834 removals of
individuals without a criminal conviction, 84 percent, or 128,398, were
apprehended at the border while attempting to unlawfully enter the U.S. and
95 percent fell within one of ICE's stated immigration enforcement
priorities.

The leading countries of origin for those removed were Mexico, Guatemala,
Honduras, and El Salvador.

EL PASO, Texas
– A convicted sex offender, who is also required to register as a sex offender
for life, remains in federal custody after his arrest Wednesday on child
pornography charges.

This case was investigated by U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s
(ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).
Christopher Peter Swan, 30, is charged with possessing, receiving and
distributing child pornography.
HSI special agents assigned to HSI’s Cyber Crimes Group executed a federal
search warrant Jan. 8 at Swan’s home in northeast El Paso. The special agents seized various
items including desktop computers, external drives and other electronic media
devices. A preliminary forensic examination of the desktop computers revealed
videos depicting minors being sexually exploited.
According to court records, Swan told HSI special agents he downloaded and
possesses a large amount of child pornography. He stated he prefers child
pornography that involves 10-year-old children and older.
Swan is a registered sex offender, who was arrested July 27, 2005, for
possessing and distributing child pornography. On Dec. 12, 2006, following his
conviction, he was sentenced to 6 1/2 years in federal prison, which was to be
followed by five years of supervised release. He was released from prison in
2012.
"Crimes against children will not be tolerated," said Dennis A.
Ulrich, special agent in charge of HSI El Paso. "HSI will pursue anyone
who sexually exploits children."
The advent of technologies, such as the Internet, has tremendously increased
predators’ accessibility to child pornography, Ulrich said. But HSI can use
similar technologies to identify and catch these child predators.
Swan made his initial appearance Jan. 9 in court, where a U.S. federal
magistrate judge ordered him to remain detained pending court proceedings. His
detention hearing is set for Jan. 14.
This investigation was conducted under HSI’s Operation Predator, an international
initiative to protect children from sexual predators. Since the launch of
Operation Predator in 2003, HSI has arrested more than 10,000 individuals for
crimes against children, including the production and distribution of online
child pornography, traveling overseas for sex with minors, and sex trafficking
of children. In fiscal year 2013, more than 2,000 individuals were arrested by
HSI special agents under this initiative.
HSI encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any
suspicious activity through its toll-free Tip Line at 1-866-DHS-2-ICE or by
completing its online tip form. Both are
staffed around the clock by investigators. Suspected child sexual exploitation
or missing children may be reported to the National Center
for Missing & Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, via its
toll-free 24-hour hotline, 1-800-THE-LOST.

Saturday, November 16, 2013

M.C. Law Group is proud to announce that Immigration Attorney Alex Meyerovich was selected for the Super Lawyers “Connecticut Rising Star 2013” list.

Super Lawyers is an established rating service for selecting outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have attained a high-degree of peer recognition for their professional achievement. Super Lawyers selection is a multi-phased process that includes independent research, peer nomination and peer evaluations. Only the 2.5 top percent of the total lawyers in the state are selected.

Alex Meyerovich is an immigration attorney at M.C. Law Group, located in Bridgeport, CT. In 2007 attorney Meyerovich co-founded M.C. Law Group, LLP and remains Managing Partner of the firm. The M.C. Law Group is a full service immigration law firm, handling cases in all areas of immigration and nationality law, and representing clients located throughout the world and the U.S.

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

WETUMPKA,
Ala. — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security
Investigations (HSI) in coordination with Alabama state police and the Elmore
County Sheriff's Department seized approximately 60,000 counterfeit items from
an Alabama flea market Saturday worth a total manufacturer's suggested retail
price of more than $2.04 million. The seized items include counterfeit designer
clothing, handbags, shoes, sportswear and electronics.

HSI seized counterfeit merchandise from 47 vendors offering fraudulent items
for sale within the Santuk Flea Market located at 7300 Central Plank Road in Wetumpka
following a six month federal investigation by HSI special agents. ICE's
Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) officers also arrested two individuals
for immigration-related violations. The flea market itself and legitimate
vendors on the premises remained open during the operation.
"Criminals who sell counterfeit products are economic parasites who
harm legitimate businesses that pay taxes, create jobs and support our national
economy," said Special Agent in Charge of HSI New Orleans Raymond R.
Parmer Jr. "Anyone who thinks counterfeiting is a victimless crime should
realize the profits of these black-market sales are routinely diverted to
support further criminal activity such as drug trafficking, money laundering
and even potential terrorism."
Parmer oversees a five-state area of responsibility including Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi
and Tennessee.
HSI seized counterfeit merchandise infringing upon the trademarks of more than
30 different brands to include Michael Kors, Nike, Louis Vuitton, Prada, Coach,
the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) and the National Football
League (NFL). Approximately 100 HSI, state and local law enforcement officers
participated in the Saturday operation.
These seizures were part of Operation Team Player, a National
Intellectual Property
Rights Coordination
Center (IPR Center)-led
initiative that targets the sale and trafficking of counterfeit sports
merchandise and apparel, a multimillion dollar criminal industry. The
trafficking of these items is a lucrative business for criminals and becomes
more profitable in markets involving successful and popular teams. The
culmination of the sports season, all-star games and the playoffs are events
that especially stimulate the sale of counterfeit items in local communities
around the country.
The HSI-led IPR
Center is one of the U.S.
government's key weapons in the fight against criminal counterfeiting and
piracy. Working in close coordination with the Department of Justice Task Force
on Intellectual Property, the IPR
Center uses the expertise
of its 21-member agencies to share information, develop initiatives, coordinate
enforcement actions and conduct investigations related to intellectual property
theft. Through this strategic interagency partnership, the IPR Center
protects the public's health and safety and the U.S. economy.

Thursday, August 29, 2013

(CNN) -- We've all heard the dictum: Don't text and drive.
Now a New Jersey
state appeals court has an addendum: Don't knowingly text a driver -- or you
could be held liable if he causes a crash.

Kyle Best was behind the wheel of his
pickup in September 2009 driving down a rural highway when Shannon Colonna sent
him a text.

The two were teens at the time. He
was 18; she was 17, and they were dating. They sent each other 62 texts that
day, according to court documents.

In the opposing lane of traffic,
David Kubert was cruising along on a big, blue touring motorcycle with his
wife, Linda, along for the ride. They approached Best at exactly the wrong
time.

A court summary of the times of texts
and calls to and from Best's cell phone reflect what happened next:

The teens were having a text chat,
volleying each other messages every few moments.

Seventeen seconds after Best sent a
text, he was calling a 911 operator.

His truck had drifted across the
double center line and hit the Kuberts head-on.

The scene Best described to the
emergency operator was most certainly gruesome.

"The collision severed, or
nearly severed David's left leg. It shattered Linda's left leg, leaving her
fractured thighbone protruding out of the skin as she lay injured in the
road," the court document said.

But they didn't just go after Best.
They included Colonna in the lawsuit.

In their minds, she was distracting
him and was also responsible for their pain and loss.

They settled with Best and lost
against Colonna, but they appealed that decision.

The plaintiffs' attorney, Stephen
Weinstein, argued that the text sender was electronically in the car with the
driver receiving the text and should be treated like someone sitting next to
him willfully causing a distraction, legal analyst Marc Saperstein told CNN affiliate WPIX-TV.

The argument seemed to work.

The ruling

On Tuesday, three appeals court
judges agreed with it -- in principle.

They ruled that if the sender of
text messages knows that the recipient is driving and texting at the same time,
a court may hold the sender responsible for distraction and hold him or her
liable for the accident.

"We hold that the sender of a
text message can potentially be liable if an accident is caused by texting, but
only if the sender knew or had special reason to know that the recipient would
view the text while driving and thus be distracted," the court said.

But the judges let Colonna off the
hook.

She had a habit of sending more than
100 texts a day and was oblivious to whether recipients were driving or not.

"I'm a young teenager. That's
what we do," she said in her deposition before the original trial.

Since she was unaware that Best was
texting while driving, she bore no responsibility, the court decided.

"In this appeal, we must also
decide whether plaintiffs have shown sufficient evidence to defeat summary
judgment in favor of the remote texter. We conclude they have not," it
said.

"Even talking to the driver can
distract them, so they are going to arrest for someone who simply talked to
someone who is driving?" Louise McKellip asked.

The future

New Jersey has been cracking down hard on
texting and driving in recent years, implementing new laws and regulations that
treat it in a similar manner as drunken driving if it involves an injury
accident.

The "Kulesh, Kubert and
Bolish's Law" makes distracted driving a crime if the driver causes an
accident. Fines for bodily injury run as high as $150,000, and the driver can
go to jail for up to 10 years.

EL PASO, Texas
– A Mexican woman convicted of being an accessory after the fact in aiding
cocaine traffickers, and known to international media outlets as the "Queen
of the Pacific" for her alleged ties to the Sinaloa drug cartel, was
deported to Mexico
Tuesday morning by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Avila Beltran, 52, a convicted aggravated felon, was among 129 ICE detainees
flown from El Paso to Benito
Juarez International
Airport in Mexico City, where she was turned over to
Mexican authorities on Aug. 20.
In August 2012, Avila Beltran was paroled into the United States to face U.S.
federal charges of conspiring to distribute cocaine in Florida. ICE officers in Miami
placed a detainer on Avila Beltran while she was in custody at the Miami Federal
Detention Center.
On April 23, Avila Beltran pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the
fact to the crime of drug trafficking, and on July 25 she was sentenced to 70
months in federal prison, with credit for time served.
Avila Beltran was released from the U.S. Bureau of Prisons July 30 and
turned over to ICE custody. At that time, she was processed to be
administratively deported to Mexico
as an aggravated felon.
"The deportation of this convicted aggravated felon, and thousands of
others, is the result of the robust working relationship ICE has with the
government of Mexico," said Adrian P. Macias, field office director of
ICE's Enforcement and Removal Operations in El Paso. "The partnership goes
hand-in-hand with ICE’s commitment to smart, effective immigration enforcement
that targets serious criminal aliens who present the greatest risk to the
security of our communities, such as those charged with major drug
offenses."
Avila Beltran was repatriated via an Interior Repatriation Initiative (IRI)
flight. The IRI is a joint agreement between the governments of the United States and Mexico to provide the humane, safe
and orderly repatriation of Mexican nationals.
The goal of the IRI, which began as a pilot program in 2012 and was signed
as a permanent initiative April 18, is to return Mexican nationals to the
interior of Mexico.
Having this framework will reduce recidivism and border violence by returning
Mexican nationals to their cities of origin, where there is a higher likelihood
that they will reintegrate themselves back into their communities, rather than
fall victim to human trafficking or other crimes in Mexican border towns.

Alabama
man sentenced to 121 months for using Internet to entice minor

PANAMA CITY, Fla. – An Alabama man was sentenced
Wednesday to 121 months in federal prison for using the Internet in an attempt
to persuade, induce and entice a minor to engage in sexual activity. This case
was investigated by the North Florida Internet Crimes Against Children Task
Force, which includes U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland
Security Investigations (HSI), the U.S. Marshals Service, the Bay
County Sheriff’s Office, the Walton County Sheriff’s Office and the Gainesville
Police Department.
Evidence presented during a three day trial in April proved that on June 14,
2012, law enforcement officers posed as a 14-year-old boy named Skylar and
responded to an advertisement titled "Last call!!!! – m4m – 1840
(PCB/Laguna Beach)." This advertisement was posted under the casual
encounters section of Craigslist.org.
For the next 48 hours, Thomas Monroe Lee, 40, of Gadsden, engaged in email chats and text
messages with Skylar that were sexual in nature. Lee subsequently drove to a
location where he had arranged to meet Skylar. Lee planned to transport Skylar
back to his Alabama
residence to engage in sexual activity. However, once Lee arrived at the
location, officers from various law enforcement agencies arrested him for
attempted online enticement of a child.
The court also ordered Lee to pay a $1,000 fine and serve seven years of
supervised release following his prison term.
"The Internet is a dangerous place, and we are determined to protect
and provide justice to victims of Internet crime," said U.S. Attorney
Pamela C. Marsh. "Adult predators who seek to harm our children will be
pursued and prosecuted by our office in cooperation with our law enforcement
partners."
"This man drove across state lines for the sole purpose of engaging in
sexual relations with a child he believed to be 14 years old," said Shane
Folden, deputy special agent in charge of HSI Tampa, which oversees the
agency’s Panama City
office that participated in the investigation. "Our joint law enforcement
efforts have successfully put this man behind bars for the next 10 years where
he can no longer prey on innocent children."
The investigation was part of Operation
Predator, a nationwide HSI initiative to protect children from sexual
predators, including those who travel overseas for sex with minors, Internet child
pornographers, criminal alien sex offenders and child sex traffickers. HSI
encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious
activity through its toll-free hotline at 1-866-347-2423 or by completing its online tip form. Both are staffed around the
clock by investigators.
Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to
the National Center for Missing & Exploited
Children, an Operation Predator partner, via its toll-free 24-hour hotline,
1-800-843-5678.
HSI is a founding member and current chair of the Virtual Global Taskforce, an international alliance of law
enforcement agencies and private industry sector partners working together to
prevent and deter online child sexual abuse.